CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has conceded that central leadership of CPM will have to take the blame for its failure in increasing the mass base of the party.
In an exclusive interview to Indian Express, Karat put the blame for party's recent failure in elections to the central leadership that included him as well.
"Electoral successes and defeats have been there, we have had ups and downs. But what we are more concerned with is our failure to advance the party's growth and to increase our mass base and influence. This we have not been able to do as we expected," said Karat.
Karat's decade long tenure of general secretary will come to an end as the Party is gearing up for its 21st congress in Vishakhapatnam later this month which will see a change of leadership.
Karat said that the party's appeal among young generation has declined especially after last year's Lok Sabha elections.
Karat expressed his concern over party's failure to advance its growth and to increase its mass base and influence. “we will take the necessary measures on how to be able to communicate with and reach out to younger people,” he said.
Cautioning against the rise of right wing parties, Karat said, the party's 21st congress will focus to fight against the Narendra Modi government's policies and the BJP. He also emphasised on the need of strengthening the CPM and the Left so that they would be in a position to rally other democratic forces to present an alternative to both the BJP and the Congress.
“How do we counter the twin attack of neo-liberal policies of the government and Hindutva communal forces, and the role of CPM in that, will be the focus,” he said.
Dismissing reports of a possible CPM and CPI merger Karat said, “Historically, we have been two separate parties since 1964 and what we have been striving for is closer cooperation, which we have made a lot of progress in, and strengthening the unity of all Left parties. We are not thinking of a merger.”
